World Health Organization, Violence and Injury Prevention
Dr Alarcos Cieza is a native of Spain. Prior to joining WHO in September 2014, she served as Chair and Professor of Medical Psychology at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. After obtaining her MSc in psychology in Madrid, Spain, she conducted a Master in Public Health and obtained a PhD in Medical Psychology from the Ludwig-Maximillians University in Munich, Germany.
She led the research unit for over ten years at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and then at the Pettenkofer School of Public Health at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
Dr Cieza oversees WHO’s work on disability and rehabilitation related to policies, medical care and rehabilitation, community-based rehabilitation, assistive devices and technologies, data collection approaches and capacity building, all of which contribute to the implementation of the Disability Action Plan 2014-2021.